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29 Fordham Urb. L.J. 1213 (2001-2002)
Civil Legal Assistance for Low-Income Persons: Looking Back and Looking Forward

handle is hein.journals/frdurb29 and id is 1229 raw text is: CIVIL LEGAL ASSISTANCE FOR LOW-INCOME PERSONS: LOOKING BACK AND LOOKING FORWARD Alan W. Houseman* INTRODUCTION Civil legal assistance for indigents in the United States began in New York City in 1876 with the founding of the Legal Aid Society of New York.1 In 1965, the federal government appropriated funds for legal services through the Office of Economic Opportunity and started the Legal Services Program.2 In 1974, Congress passed the Legal Services Corporation Act3 and, in 1975, the Legal Services Corporation assumed control of the programs started by the Office of Economic Opportunity.4 Until recently, the primary funder of civil legal assistance in the United States has been the legal services program funded by the Legal Services Corporation (LSC).5 The Legal Services Program is currently undergoing major trans- formation. Since 1995, the landscape of legal aid providers has substantially changed. Six years ago, the civil legal assistance sys- tem funded by the LSC consisted primarily of full-service provid- * Alan W. Houseman is the director of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). CLASP is counsel to the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and its member programs and jointly conducts the Project for the Future of Equal Justice. Mr. Houseman has written extensively about civil legal assistance for the poor and is directly involved in many of the initiatives described in this article. 1. HARRISON TWEED, THE LEGAL AID SOCIETY: NEW YORK CITY 1876-1951, at 5-8 (1954) (discussing early efforts to establish legal assistance for the poor in New York City, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and San Francisco). 2. Economic Opportunity Amendments of 1966, Pub. L. No. 89-794, § 211-1(b), 80 Stat. 1458, 1458-60. In 1967, Congress added the Legal Services Program to the Economic Opportunity Act. Economic Opportunity Act, Pub. L. No. 90-222, § 222(a)(3), 81 Stat. 672, 698 (1967). 3. Legal Services Corporation Act, Pub. L. No. 93-355, 88 Stat. 378 (1974) amended by Pub. L. No. 95-222, 91 Stat. 1619 (1977) (codified as 42 U.S.C. 2996 (1998)). 4. Joseph A. Dailing, Their Finest Hour: Lawyers, Legal Aid and Public Service in Illinois, 16 N. ILL. U. L. REV. 7, 12 n.16-19. (1995) (describing how the Legal Ser- vices Corporation carried over the structure established by the Office of Economic Opportunity). 5. See generally EARL JOHNSON, JR., JUSTICE AND REFORM: THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF THE AMERICAN LEGAL SERVICES PROGRAM (1973) (describing the early history of legal services); John A. Dooley & Alan W. Houseman, Legal Services His- tory ch.1 (Nov. 1985) (unpublished manuscript, on file with the Fordham Urban Law Journal) (same). 1213

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